Read Asexuality: A Brief Introductionby Asexuality Archive Online

Sometimes called "A Fourth Orientation," asexuality is a sexual orientation characterized by a persistent lack of sexual attraction toward any gender. This book explores love, sex, and life, from the asexual point of view. This book is for anyone, regardless of orientation. Whether you're asexual, think you might be, know someone who is, or just want to learn more about whSometimes called "A Fourth Orientation," asexuality is a sexual orientation characterized by a persistent lack of sexual attraction toward any gender. This book explores love, sex, and life, from the asexual point of view. This book is for anyone, regardless of orientation. Whether you're asexual, think you might be, know someone who is, or just want to learn more about what asexuality is (and isn't), there's something inside for you. This is one of the first books exclusively dedicated to the subject of asexuality as a sexual orientation. Written by an asexual, it discusses the topic from the inside....

Title

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Asexuality: A Brief Introduction

Author

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Asexuality Archive

Rating

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ISBN

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9781477428085

Format Type

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Paperback

Number of Pages

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136 Pages

Status

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Available For Download

Last checked

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21 Minutes ago!

Asexuality: A Brief Introduction Reviews

Rebecca McNutt2018-12-25 14:50

Being asexual myself, it was great to actually see some literature on the subject for once. Asexuality is still rarely talked about and often perceived as a lack of love for others or a mental illness. This book was short but concise and a well-written introduction.

Swankivy2019-01-16 09:50

I finally got to read the copy of this book that I got when I went to the North American Asexuality Conference in Toronto in 2015. And though I'd read most of its text in bits and pieces through the Asexuality Archive site, I wanted to see how it worked as a book.I like it better as a website in bite-sized chunks. Since a lot of the topics overlap each other and the author makes some of the same points in some of the same ways, it can be a little repetitious when reading all at once, but I don't honestly hold that against it too much--especially since books like this might be read out of order. I think the best thing is the humorous, light tone; you feel like you're hearing a real perspective from a real person, which makes it pretty easy to read. And you kind of want to hang out with the author and play video games or talk about nerdy stuff. If you're that kind of nerd. (I am.)Now, other than the good stuff about the personality and the relatability, how does it stand up as an informational book? Fairly well, though I have some thoughts on how it could have been better. It's an intro and it knows it's an intro. It covers fairly basic topics, sometimes several times, in accessible language, and it does a good job reminding readers that attitudes vary across the community and across the spectrum on several axes. By the time we're done reading, we know some asexual people enjoy sex, some don't, and some won't try it (and it's all okay). We know some asexual people masturbate and some don't, some fantasize and some don't, some watch porn and some don't, some are religious and some aren't, some want relationships and some don't, some have sex-positive attitudes and some don't.That's really good, and I think asexual people reading this when they don't know much (or anything) about asexuality might be relieved to see the sections about ace experiences that they will relate to--making up crushes so they can fit in, wondering why you don't think anyone's hot, feeling like everyone's talking about something totally uninteresting, worrying that not being sexually attracted to someone will make them think you don't love them, feeling like sex scenes in media are unnecessary and practically random--that sort of thing. (I totally used to skim the sex scenes in books thinking "okay, they're still boning--when do we get back to the story"--not even realizing that to a lot of people, those were the "good parts"!) And the history info on asexual symbols (the cake, the flag, the ace ring) actually told me some things I didn't already know.I do have some gentle criticism, though. Probably the most significant thing I'd change was the gender terminology problem throughout the book. Having a penis was pretty consistently conflated with being a man or being male, and having a vagina and a uterus (and periods) was pretty consistently conflated with being a woman or being female--and though nods to agender and neutrois and other nonbinary identities did occur in the book (as well as mentions of being transgender), there were really frequent associations of "male anatomy" and whatnot with gender, and certain arousal experiences with being male, etc. A list of reasons for masturbation included "For women, it can help with period pain" and "For men, it can help with embarrassing issues like spontaneous erections or nocturnal emissions." And phrases like "opposite gender" to describe heterosexual orientations and "both genders" to describe bisexual orientations seemed strange for a book whose author clearly acknowledged the existence of other genders elsewhere. This isn't a problem JUST because a huge percentage of nonbinary people exist in the asexual community; cis people shouldn't be seeing gender in these terms either.That was probably the biggest issue I had with it because it recurred throughout. But other than that, I'd say sometimes the defenses for or explanations for objections to asexuality were dismissive in one-dimensional ways; the misconceptions section was especially opaque sometimes, like when it said taking hormone supplements categorically doesn't change anything for people who are asexual (even though some asexual people do find that hormones might change their perspective on orientation; I've especially heard that narrative from a subsection of trans people in the community). I would have liked to see more nuance there, and I know the author is capable of it since he does stuff like referring to asexual people having functional genitals and throws in a mention that when an asexual person does NOT have functional genitals, that is not the sole definitive factor of them being asexual.There are several places where non-asexual people especially might find the author's description of them unflattering, and that could be alienating for people who are trying to learn about asexuality from the book without personal experience or background knowledge. When sarcastically poking holes in misconceptions about asexual people, the author has a tendency to say stuff like "It doesn't mean that they want to be alone forever. It just means that they don't see someone and immediately want to jump their bones." That "immediately jumping their bones" thing comes up a couple times, and though we get that he's kidding and that he understands non-asexual people aren't always lusting after everyone they see or desiring sex with everyone they think is attractive, it's odd that this is contrasted with being asexual.A couple other smaller things that are just personal pet peeves: He uses the "born this way" narrative (which I don't like for various reasons), and there's a REALLY HEAVY focus on sexual experience and masturbation, and at one point the author describes being asexual as "it's like being straight except I'm not into women," which I didn't understand unless "like being straight" is supposed to be understood as a default, neutral state (and I don't consider someone straight unless they're attracted to cross-sex partners). Writing-wise, the book was quite well-written except that the author has a comma splicing habit and once used "lead" when he meant "led."But as mentioned, I did like how personal it felt, like someone was willing to let you see a no-holds-barred honest slice of their life to help you understand his asexuality experience, and the sort of off-the-wall personality can really make you chuckle sometimes. (I particularly liked when he made a list of the things he'd rather be doing besides doing sex.) Reading his weird little journey and relating to the atypical but very accessible descriptions of his life can make an asexual person feel like whatever they might have been through, someone else was there once too and came out on the other side happy with his identity. I do recommend a glance through the website and understanding the book as separate essays rather than a cohesive book.

Paige2019-01-04 07:49

Overall, this book was pretty good, but there was nothing special about it. Being ace, I'm almost always looking into things by other asexuals and trying to find more information on it as it slowly becomes more well known. But, I always find myself getting annoyed by what I find. Asexuality is the lack of sexual attraction. That's it. That is all it is. But, people can't seem to wrap their minds around it. They always go into something or other about sex, and it very much felt like that's what happened in this book.The author even states in the beginning that "a lack of experiencing sexual attraction is the only thing that all asexuals have in common", but it felt like they sort of take a step away from that idea. I understand that the author is focusing a lot on personal experiences, but if they wanted to do that, the book should not have been called what it is. By saying it's "A Brief Introduction", this should include ALL aces, but the author continually draws back to their own life. I was more expecting a good "Brief Introduction", maybe something that would help me further explain asexuality to my rather close-minded family members instead of stories about this person's life. I like reading about other people's experiences of being ace, especially since they're all pretty different, but it wasn't what I was expecting (or wanting) from this book.

Zahraa' Zalzalah2019-01-17 14:04

I read this book this morning & well aside from some new terms that I wasn't aware of (like celibacy , abstinence & aesthetic attraction) , it didn't have anything new for someone who's asexual & you may disagree with some parts too if you're one (like the cake-love thing lol ) .Tbh my problem with the book is that it was so repetitive & so focused on the personal experience of the author & not on aces in general .But nontheless it's worth reading if you're not familiar with asexually & want to know the difference between Demisexuality & Gray-asexuality in the most simple way . (Gray-asexuality , it's kinda complicated but it's as the name suggest , an area between sexuality & asexuality , so those who experience a few sexual attractions but not very frequent like any normal non-asexual person are referred to as gray-asexual while demi-asexuals are those who experience a sexual attraction only after having a firm bond with someone or just experience this attraction with the only person they love . My explanations sucks so you better check Wiki)& on a side note I'll need to fit purple into my clothes more (since the ace flag consists of Black , Grey , White & Purple and I kinda wear those 3 together usually but with the Purple :3) xD .

It is good to see a representation of Asexuality in literature. That alone made me excited to read this book.Many valid points were brought up in this book. For the most part, I agreed with what the author had to say (I identify as Asexual to a degree). There were a few things I didn't agree with at the same time. Overall, the definition and representation that the author provided for Asexuality was rather good. :)I just wish this book wasn't as repetitive as it was- the points were revisited multiple times which got a bit tiresome to follow. :/

Immacolata2019-01-07 10:49

3.75Love and sex are different thingsI'm an honest person,i really really disliked the LoveisLove hash tag.not because i'm against homosexuality(i'm not homophobe),the problem is that love is LOVE,it is not sex!sexuality is about sex.homosexuals have sexual attraction to their own gender,while heteros have the sexual attraction to people of the other gender,or like bi people to both and pans to both genders plus the ones without it.truth is that people exist who are asexual and they don't feel sexual attraction to anyone.it doesn't matter what is the gender,they are not like "hey what a hot person i wan't to have sex with"actually even if you make them sit to watch a porn movie they would be like "oh my God are they serious?is THIS what makes all of you crazy?please end soon i have books to read and video games to play(or whatever i do in my free time)"they even don't get the reason why there should be a sex scene in a book about the apocalypse,cause "hey the world is ending!ARE YOU CRAZY???"this is why i didn't like the hash tag,cause love is not sex!love is about romance!if it was about sex so asexuals were going to not fall in love at all(and trust me they do)so while people all around the world know so many things about other sexualities,asexuals are little understood by them.this book is a very good book about asexuality.it was written by a man who is ace(we can call asexuals ace too) and contains even some of his personal experience which is good to read.the problem with this book is that some facts are repeated SO much that it really makes you tired!like when he talks about the difference between celibacy and asexuality.you read about it in like every ten page or something like that and from some point it makes you roll your eyes and say "I REALLY KNOW IT NOW" out loud!but still,i think that is good to read it and highly recommend it to anyone who wants to find out more about different sexualities.

Julie Bozza2019-01-03 06:51

To be honest, I was a tad disappointed with this book. The actual information was all good, as far as I can tell, and it conveyed a good idea of what life is like for the range of people who may identify as asexual. I also appreciated the humour. There should be more of all of that around.I read the book from cover to cover (though not all at once), which may not be the best approach. The same information is used to answer questions in a number of different contexts, so it becomes rather repetitive if taken as a whole. It's more the kind of book to dip in and out of. If you access what you need via the particular interests or concerns you have, maybe that's all you need. So perhaps that's just the way this particular book works.The one thing I felt was rather badly done was the tone to be found in some sections of the book. Obviously the author has been asked many of the same uninformed questions over time, and he replies to them in this book in a rather smart-aleck way. I'm sure we can all relate to how frustrated he feels in this regard. However, I sincerely believe this is not the time nor place to release your inner smartarse. If people are asking, and are honestly interested in the answers, then they are the good guys. They are on our side. They don't deserve to be made to feel stupid or ignorant for not already knowing. This attitude is all the more surprising coming from someone who himself hadn't heard of asexuality, or identified himself as asexual, before he was 31 years old. There was a time in the recent past when the author was also asking questions to which he did not already know the answer.OK, enough said.If you would care to explore the topic of asexuality, I suggest starting at the author's site http://www.asexualityarchive.com/ and The Asexual Visibility & Education Network http://www.asexuality.org/home/ , and then deciding for yourself where to go from there.To end on a positive note, I am very glad there is indeed more visibility around this sexual orientation these days, and I heartily support ace people as well as all on the GLBTQI spectrum. It's totally hip to be whoever we are! ♥

Yuu Sasih2019-01-07 07:54

Quite complete guide for whoever wants to understand about term "Asexuality". Written in light and humorous language, I cackled up several times and hollered, "That's true! I'll do that also!"So yeah. Good book if you want to know more about what asexuality (or whether you are included in that term or not). :)

Alice S2019-01-13 08:59

Pretty repetitive for me, but if you don't know much about asexuality and want to learn more, this is a nice first text.

Yuko2019-01-05 09:04

I have a suspicion that I'm asexual. I sometimes talk about it to my friends. All of them say that they're not sure if I am, but I think so. That's why I decided to read this book, I want to find out if it's true or not.The book is written in simple words and repeats the same kind of phrases, which makes it easy for me to read.What is more, the author is asexual himself. The good point is that he understands the difficulty of living as an asexual person. However, although he refers to many other documents, we have to know in advance that this is only his opinion.All in all, I like this book, because I basically understood what asexuality is from this book. (What a shame, I didn't know about it very well even though I've identified myself as an asexual person.) Perhaps, it's a bit hard for heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual people to understand asexuality even with this book. Even though I read it from an asexual standpoint, there are some things I feel unclear about after reading it.Anyway, the messages of this book are the following: 1. Asexuality is neither a disease, a disorder, abstinence nor impotence. 2. Asexuality doesn't means they don't masturbate or have sex. 3. Asexuality is an orientation, not behaviour, so asexual people don't feel sexual attractions to people.Thanks to this book, I'm able to be proud of myself and put a black ring on my right middle finger.

Morv2019-01-19 10:59

An interesting read into what asexuality means and the different aspects of this rarely heard of sexual orientation.This book gives the read a good amount of information about this sexuality, what those who are of this sexuality may feel or want out of a relationship and how people should support them.The one bugbear I have with this book is after half way through, it began to repeat it's self, constantly; when really it could have easily just explained itself fully by saying the whole different aspects of asexuality and what it means to different aces.When the book began to repeat itself was the moment that I did want to just skim over it and see if there was any more information for me to know, but I choose to carry on reading it to the very end. Which was fine, but the repeat parts did really take away from what the author was trying to give out.

Jeremy Clark2019-01-06 08:16

I thought the author was very humerus. I liked that the book was written like an interview because it made it easy to reference certain questions that you had. With that said, when reading the book straight through, it did become repetitive at times, but if looking for the answer to a specific question it was great.

Danii2019-01-10 15:04

I really liked this book, because as an asexual Asexuality Archive helped me a lot in discovering and defining that. It's nice to have it in book form.(The reason why it isn't five stars is that it's quite repetitive, although to be honest, it has to be. Asexuality really isn't hard to understand.)A fun and interesting read anyway.

Paula2019-01-05 07:57

I found it to be repetitive of itself, which was disappointing. But it is helpful and informative. It answered my questions and a lot I hadn't thought of. I liked the personal chat-like tone the author used.

Jessica2019-01-20 13:56

Short sweet guide with questions and answers as well as personal background from the author. I would recommend it.

♠ Tabi ♠2019-01-05 07:00

There is a LOT of repeated information in here, which could have been condensed into a truly brief introduction to asexuality, but overall it was still very good on the informative side of things, and made for an easy read.

Kristin2019-01-13 06:51

Decent info, often frustratingly repetitive, but the chapter on "Possible Signs of Asexuality" was about the most vindicating thing I've ever read.

Megan2018-12-25 13:49

Author was too opinionated and personal for my taste.

Julie Decker2019-01-09 11:52

This educational book about asexuality was published by the author based on his website. I received a copy when I met him at a conference, and had read most of its contents on his website before he published it, but I was glad to finally get to see how it looked all in one piece. It is, first and foremost, a collection of essays about asexuality designed to teach people what asexuality is and what the ace experience is like (slanted toward the author's own experiences as a cisgender male asexual person).It's hard for someone like me--who's also an active asexual community member and also the author of a book on the topic--to review this fairly, because when I think about what *I* want an asexuality book to be . . . that's what I already wrote. So I have to think practically and remember that this book was written for different reasons than mine was, and with maybe a different audience in mind. Reading through it, I felt like other asexual people would be the ones to get the most out of it. Mostly because there were so many relatable experiences detailed in it--the experience of being invalidated, the experience of just plain not being into what everyone else is into, the experience of wondering why we're different from most of our friends--and there were some reassuring statements within for new asexual people.I think non-asexual people might find some of the statements alienating now and then, but if they keep an open mind, they can also learn a lot from this book. There are basic definitions, descriptions of asexual life, some interesting stuff about symbols and culture, and plenty of coverage of the confusion surrounding sex, celibacy, abstinence, reproduction, genital functionality, and masturbation. The place I think it suffers in book form is the repetition--because it is a collection of essays that are actually better individually than read as part of a whole, in my opinion--but one thing it does very well is make you feel a sense of personality from the author. He is frequently funny and quirky and quite likable as you get to know him through his writing. And though there were some problems with gender-related terminology that I wish had been more inclusive (due to frequent conflations of certain anatomy with gender and pretty consistent uses of phrases like "opposite gender" or "both genders"), I think he usually did a good job presenting a diverse representation of the community in terms of desire for sex, attitudes toward sex, masturbatory habits, and relationship situations.It is what it claims to be: an introduction. You'll probably know enough after reading it to figure out where you want to dig next if you want more information.

Amy2018-12-31 08:47

I have to say I have been nicely surprised when I got more into this books. It's not the usual text-book definitions that are barely understandable sometimes, and lets not kid our selves, really boring. None of that is here however. This book is written in a very personal and friendly way. And almost all of it in questions and answers.It contains everything you need to know to understand what does it mean to be Asexual. It says what it is, as well as what it is not. It answers many questions people have asked asexual people. And as you can surely guess many of them really stupid. Signs of asexuality. Romantic orientations. It also busted many myths and misconceptions surrounding asexuality. And explains everything around sex, masturbating, relationships, the difference between being asexual and celibate/abstinence, and cake. Nothing gets left out.What I didn't like about this book were some of his answers to certain questions. Like for example 'Do asexual enjoy orgasms?' and his answer 'Generally'. I mean really? Personally I don't believe it. I'm sure many asexuals who don't care about sex wouldn't even care about some survey about sex. So in this example should have been a different, better answer. As well as several others.What I also didn't like was the way the author was talking about celibacy and abstinence. He made it sound like he was labeling others with these two. Like all those who don't have sex made a conscious decision not to have sex. But that isn't true. Some may have. But many don't care about sex. We didn't make a decision not o have it, we simply don't care. And personally the way he wrote it I felt a little insulted.You will also notice that it will repeat itself several times. But lets be honest with each other. There are many people who need to hear things repeatedly. Otherwise they won't get it and just have stupid comments. Although there will still be some who will nevertheless, because they are too narrow minded.So, all in all my verdict is 4*. No matter the little faults it still is a good and enjoyable book, which helped me to understand Asexuality more and so understand myself.

Zogguz2019-01-15 10:00

This book has any question about asexuality anyone might have, to the point of becoming repetitive. A third into the book, it just gets tedious to read and I feel as though the author puts way too much personal information in there. I get that examples can help explain but it was boring having to read those bits. Very interesting to read a book about my orientation but still very repetitive and, at times, boring.

Samantha2019-01-07 14:04

Reading this book was useful as it made me think about my own life and reflect and analyse how I feel. It also made me realise that there is no neat box to fit your life into there are so many different elements and some things fit me that the author described and some didn't everyone's an individual.The book is written in an easy to read question and answer style like having a conversation with someone. It is basic as its title intimates and at times repetitive but is a very good starting point for those who are just starting to explore and understand asexuality either for themselves or if you have a family member and want to understand more about what it means to be asexual. It dispels many of the myths surrounding asexuality and yes it does talk about sex so if you are sex repulsed be aware. It is the first book I've read about asexuality so can't compare it to others.I would have liked more stories and viewpoints from other asexuals to have been included but I found it interesting and if you don't want a too scientific approach then I think it is worth a read.After reading the book I posted some personal thoughts and feelings about my own experiences in being asexual I didn't want to post them here but if anybody is interested please read my blog:http://thestitchingbookworm.blogspot....

Katey2018-12-30 15:06

This is a pretty good introductory book overall, and covers the range of the asexual experience. It is, however, not a cover to cover read, and seems to be much more of a guidebook. It seems great for showing to loved ones to help them understand. Grey-asexual and Demi orientations are also mentioned and explained, which I find particularly important in expressing the fuller range of asexuality to others. The section An Asexual on Sex is particularly wonderful, as it explains well how many asexuals are not completely celibate, and many have active libidos. The content itself is primarily introductory in nature, so it is less of something to read out of continued interest and more exclusively for beginners (though the on Sex section in particular can be helpful even to those who feel somewhat informed, as I rarely get to see pieces like this). I would recommend this for helping to explain your identity or as a first resource into the topic.

Gloria2018-12-23 06:54

Being ace myself, I must find that this book helped me clear up a whole lot. I had more than a few "Oooh, so that's why I felt that way" moments and I can honestly say the book was very... Validating in showing me it's not just me, even if no one around me feels that way. On the other hand, though, it was far too repetitive: more like a FAQ than a book. I definitely recommend it though, and already sent it to some friends who were curious about my sexuality.

Katherine L.E.2019-01-18 15:15

This little book is an interesting and enlightening read. As research for a project, I was intrigued at the stereotypes that it busted, leaving me wanting to do more research on the topic of asexuality itself.

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